Final Task : Evaluation : Audience feedback

This is what an Audience thought of Our final Video once they had watched it.

Final Task: Evaluation : Commentary

This is the commentary that i have recorded which explains my views on the Movie

Final Task : Evaluation

 Looking back at your preliminary task what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

When creating the video for the preliminary task i did not know how to use Adobe premier pro to edit or how to use the camera and tripod properly. I also did not know much about the codes and conventions of different genres of films.
When doing research for the final project i definitely learnt a lot about the codes and conventions of a mystery film. Codes and conventions of mystery films include dark lighting, confusing plots, props such as knives and things to suggest the plot of the film and a black background on which the titles and credits are placed.
During the filming stage of the task i learnt a lot about how to use a camera properly and different shots that can be created. In the end we were quite inventive with camerawork as we produced a sequence which is shot in the reflection of the mirror. We were surprised that this actually worked as we had never tried it before. The Camerawork used definitely created a good effect as it looks as if the main character is the only one who can see the supernatural figure. This is a technique we have used in the final task that we did not know how to do in the preliminary task and we have learnt over time. 
In the preliminary task we did not know the importance of using a tripod and therefore just handheld the camera when we were shooting. In the Final task we shot it as a point of view shot which did not show a variety of shots and we did not use a tripod so it looked unprofessional and unfinished. We got told that this would not achieve very high marks. so we decided to re shoot the footage using a tripod. We realised that this was much better and the shots looked much more professional.
In the preliminary task i wasn't very experienced when it came to editing and was unsure how to use the program that we used which was Adobe premier pro. I didn't really know how to add sound onto the footage or how to add special effects. In the preliminary task i had chance to experiment with the program and to try out different effects which was how i learnt to use the program in the final task. By the final task i was more confident when using this piece of software as i did some of the editing of the film. There is evidence of how we have progressed in using this piece of technology as the final piece had sound and special effects added to it during the titles.  Some times this program was inconvenient t use as it kept crashing which wasted some time but we still managed to finish the editing in time.
Overall during the whole making of the final piece i have learnt a lot about camerawork,editing and the amount of research that can be put into a film. I have learnt lots of new skills such as editing and shooting footage so that it looks better. I have also learnt the importance of continuity and how it can affect the outcome of a film sequence.

Final Task : Evaluation

Manny and Beth - Linked presentation from Chris Earl on Vimeo.

This is the presentation which we presented to the class which helps explain what our product is and what it is about.

Final Task: Evaluation

This is our Interview which is part of the Evaluation
Manny and Beth's Evaluation from Chris Earl on Vimeo.

Final Task : Evaluation

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

 This is an example of a new website that i have learnt to use throughout this project. I have used this to blog my progress so that other people can see the development of the work that i have been participating in. I can also see other peoples blogs and comment on them. In this way feedback can be recieved so that work can be reviewed or improved.

I have used premiere Pro CS3 throughout the editing process to edit the opening sequence. At first i found it difficult to use as i had never used it before but slowly became to understand how it works. We experienced problems while using this program as sometimes it took a long time to upload our work which wasted a lot of time and sometimes it crashed which was inconvenient when we were working on our final piece. The effects that can be created using this were quite effective and they looked good. It was a good program to use for refining the footage and to render it so it didnt look jumpy or glitchy.

We used both a Tripod and a Video camera for shooting our footage. These were fairly simple to use but at first we didn't use a tripod so all of a our shots were really shaky and when we watched it back it just didn't look proffessional enough and was not something that would be used in a film. So We went out and re shot our footage with a tripod and now our product looks much better and much more finished than before. The camera we used was ok but when footage was uplloaded to the computer to be edited it was really jumpy but rendering the footage sorted this problem.

 

Final Task : Evaluation

How did you attract/ address your Audience?

The use of dark colours in the titles helped the audience to identify the genre and look like a genre that would appeal to them as the colours are dark and the way the writing looks on the screen looks mysterious and are conventional of the type of movie they would normally watch. The use of props and costume helped to identify the story was about the main character which was a teenager this instantly makes the product attractive to teenagers as they feel they can relate to them. The fast moving sequence creates tension and enigma which is also a convention of the type of thriller/mystery film they would watch.
The supernatural figure that appears in the film surprises the audience as this makes the movie different to what other films of this genre making it stand out and maintain originality this would make the audience want to watch the rest of the film to see what else could surprise them and also to see how the character relates to the girl in the film.
A secondary audience of older people who have teenagers themselves may want to see how teenagers are represented in films as normally youths are represented as violent and as being "thugs" but in this film this is not being suggested and therefore parents may feel obliged to watch it as they get to see what other types of teenagers are like. The first opening sequence is shocking to the older audience as well because they don't realise that bullying can lead to this much of a disaster and they wait to watch the rest of the film because they want to see what specifically caused the girl to take an overdose.
The use of sound is also is suggestive of the genre as it isn't upbeat and probably wouldn't attract the stereotypical girly girl. It would attract the target audience because it also sounds quite dark and sounds as if something is going to happen. 

Final Task: Evaluation

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The typical viewer that would watch our product would be a Teenager between the ages of 13-21 and would live in western society as the Film "linked" addresses issues that arise the most predominantly in western society. These people will live normal teenage lives and go to school and hang out with friends in free time but may have experienced some form of bullying during their time spent at school allowing them to relate to the film. 

These teenagers enjoy watching mystery and thriller movies like se7en, Taken and identity at the cinema and on DVD. They would be interested in TV programmes such as CSI, NCIS and Marchlands. The channels being watched are Channel 5, Fiver and ITV1. 

These teenagers would be interested in rock, alternative and indie music on radio stations such as Kerrang and be less likely to listen to chart music.

This would be the audience for the movie as they are students and are interested in dark films with good effects, deceptive story lines and action sequences. The genre of the film is non specific to genre as both males and females tend to enjoy these type of films. 

Final Task : Evaluation

What kind of media institution might distribute your product and why?

 

We decided not to have a distributor for our film as we are going to self distribute the film by advertising it in various different ways and places in the hope of finding someone who will back the film. The advantages of self distributing are that the specific audiences can be targeted and reached by small films such as linked. There have been many successful independant films such as "Half Nelson". 

Final Task : Evaluation

How Does your Media Product Represent certain Social Groups?

Some Groups that i think are represented in Our opening sequence are Teenagers, The supernatural, Bullies, The new generation as a whole. In the opening sequence The costume we chose to use for the girl walking home was a school Uniform this represents that she is in her youth and that she has just coming home from school as she is also carrying a school bag. This shows that she is just a typical teenager.
The threatening messages on the phone show that she is getting bullied by someone, this could lead the audience to believing that it is coming from someone at school. This represents that she can be contacted through phone and shows that there is no escape from bullies. It portrays the seriousness of bullying and the effects that bullying has on young people.
The new generation is represented in the opening sequence by the use of technology and by the setting with newer cars in it it shows that it is supposed to be shot in modern times.
The supernatural and things from another world have been represented through the use of special effects and sound effects. The supernatural in our opening sequence is represented as being sinister and cunning and slightly evil. This is presented by the character randomly appearing and following the girl all the way to her house.

Final Task :Evaluation

How Does your media Product use,develop and challenge the codes and conventions of real media products?

The media product that we as a group have made fits the codes and conventions of a typical mystery film with some adaptions made so that it has a niche in the market for that genre as there are a lot of mystery films to compete with. We found from our research that our main product adopts some of these codes and conventions and so does our ancillary texts. The Ancillary texts are a poster which i have made which show the dark lighting which is a typical convention of the mystery genre. Also on the poster the main character is centered in the middle of the page aswell as a tagline and credits.

The ancillary text is recognisable as it contains shots that are in the opening sequence like the Title Linked and shots of the ghostly figure and of the main character. These images will be recognisable and if one is seen then they will be able to identify the film if they see the other. The setting and characters and lighting in the ancillary texts help portray the genre of the film to the audience and they will be able to identify if they are interested in the film or not. 

 

This is a frame showing our Main Title. We placed this title towards the end of the clip to make the audience wait for the big title. They have to keep watching the whole sequence just so they know the title of the film. The title is placed on a black background. We have noticed from our research that a lot of movies use this effect and we decided to replicate this for our opening sequence. We used this as the dark backround gives a great impact on the audience.This is the kind of effect we want to impact upon our target audience as the dark colours are used in a lot of mystery films and prove to be very effective at capturing the audiences full attention. This dark background for the titles is used in mystery films such as the Da Vinci code and Sherlock holmes. The dark backround also sets the atmosphere up for the film and the genre is clearly portrayed to the audience through the use of these dark colours that create a dark and sinister atmosphere. We have researched and used different codes and conventions which are important parts of setting up a mystery plotline.

This is the setting we used for our opening sequence. It is set in a estate as this represents the social class of the girl. It is shot in daylight as it is supposed to show a girl as she is walking home from school.

This frame shows the props that we used in the opening sequence. The props used in an opening sequence can give a lot away about the plot. The props used, which are pills, the significance of the girl taking the pills is that she is upset and depressed. she is also in her school uniform which represents that the reason for taking the overdose is linked to problems arising at school.

We used special effects in our opening sequence to create a different image of the stalker. These special effects help portray to the audience the character that is supposed to be from another world. This special effect is creating enigma, tension and suspence as the audience will be unsure of this characters role and why she is following the girl.

This is a shot of the opening sequence where we tried to use a creative type of camerawork.

The non – digetic music playing throughout our opening sequence definitely sets the mood for the rest of the movie. There are also some sound effects used in our opening sequence which stimulates the audiences’ senses. We used a banging sound for when Manny turns round at the beginning of the clip. We dicovered that the use of soundeffects is important in a opening sequence. We used these codes and conventions based on the opening sequence of the movie se7en.



Final Task : Evaluation

We have now completed the opening sequence and it is now uploaded to my blog. From now on we can't change anything in the clip as the deadline has passed. We are now concentrating of completing our evaluation. for the evaluation we have to answer the following questions and upload the answers onto our blog:
How does your media product:
a)use develop challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
b0represent particular social groups
2. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
3. Who would be the audience for your media product?
4. How did you attract/address your audience?
5. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product?
6. Looking back at your preliminary task what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

For our evaluation we have to have a group interview answering the questions, An individual commentary of video
A group presentation of the piece to the class
and an individual blog entries answering the questions.
i will be answering these questions over the next week.

Final Task: Final Edit !!

Here is our final opening sequence which Manny and me have worked very hard on :)

Final Task : editing

We have been editing our final footage for about 2 or 3 weeks now and we are happy with what we have done. Last week we spent a lot of time improving the continuity of our video as some shots did not fit together well. We managed to sort this out and add titles into our video This broke up some of the shots and has improved the continuity of the whole sequence. Music and sound effects were also added to the sequence to create a eerie atmosphere and to convey the nature of the film to the audience well. Thanks to Mr Earl we added suitable sound and the titles were inserted which improved the whole sequence.   Today is the final deadline for the sequence after this deadline we will no longer be able to edit the sequence and this is the piece that will be marked. As Manny is not here today i will export the clip and upload it onto my blog.

Final Task: Progress

In the the last week we have filmed our new footage that we are going to use. Last Thursday we shot the first half of our opening sequence. We were pleased with what we had shot as we took more care when we were shooting and this time we used a tripod so the camera isnt shaking as much this gives the shots a more finished look. We have also included a range of shots this time including long shots and closeups as this is what the criteria asks. We experienced some roblems with the tripod as it was hard to turn the camera when is was on it. This means that some of the shots went wrong and this slowed down the shooting process becasuse we had to make sure that we moved it right. We sorted this problem out before we went to shoot for the second time. Also we wer shooting a close up of a phone to show a text message but the camera would not pick up the text on the phone because it was too bright. Manny also solved this problem by turning down the brightness on her phone and the camera was able to pick up the text message. But after we reviewed the footage at school we discovered that we can't hear the sound coming from the phone so we will add in the audio that manny will record off her phone.
We went out to shoot the second half of our footage last night. We filmed Manny recieving a text message and her running upstairs to the bathroom where the mysterious person(me) appears in the mirrors reflection and persuades her to take the pills. This did not take that long to shoot. The only problem that we encountered was there was not enough room on the landing to film Manny running up the stairs so i had to hold the camera instead.
We are now editing the footage and hope to have finished editing it by next week.

Final Task : Progress

We have not filmed our footage yet and we are going to film it tonight instead. We have decided to find sound effects and edit them into the opening sequence this is so that it sets the scene better and it will definitly add to the mystery and eeriness of the sequence. We need to find a sound effect of a door creaking or a door shutting when the girl is in the bathroom so that she turns around and when she turns back round to face the mirror she sees the girl who is standing behind her. We are also undecided as whether to add some music into the sequence as on our rough cut we got feedback that the sound on the clip sounded weird. If we did put music in it then we would put it when the titles were coming up as from watching similar films there is usually some sort of music in the opening sequence.
We will probably have to film some of it next week as we dont think we will get it all filmed in one night. This means that we will have less time to edit therefore we will come in and edit after school and in our spare time as well as in lesson in order to get it completed by the deadline and also so that it is of a good standard.

Final Task:Problem

We submitted our rough cut at the deadline and it was reviewed over the half term when we off. We recieved feedback for it this feedback stated that our opening sequence lacked a variety of of camera shots and was too simplistic  the title sequence needs to be improved we will look at other films of this genre and see what the title sequence is like on these films and then try to base ours on this in addition to this it has been suggested that we should alter the effects used for the titles as the lightening and the flashing of the titles dosen't look that good. Also we recieved feed back that it was hard to tell what the story was so we have been advised to film some more footage so that the narrative is clearer to the audience. Also when i played it back the lighting looked odd and this is another component that we have decided to change, we have decided that we will film some of it in the light as the girl will be walking home from school and this will be represented by he wearing a school uniform.
We have come up with a plan of the shots that we are going to re shoot as this will make it clearer as to what is going on in the sequence. The sequence is still starting off with the girl walking home from school in her school uniform but she is paranoid that someone is following her so she keeps turning round to look behind her she then starts to run to her house as she is scared she quickly runs in through her front door and starts to cry hysterically she then recieves a text message which says something threatening like "im going to get you" she then looks at the phone again and it is blank. she is then going to run up to bathroom and consider taking an overdose as she is looking in the mirror she sees somebody standing behind her in the reflection of the mirror. the person standing behind her is daring her to take the overdose and then it switches to the main title of the film.
We are no longer filming from the girls point of view as we need to include a variety of shots.
We are going to film our footage tonight after school and possibly another day this week as we predict that we will need more than one night to film this. Next week we need to start editing if we are to meet our deadlines. i am going to come in and edit it after school next week as we wont have enough lesson time to edit it all.  

Final Task: Editing

Last week Manny edited the footage and added the titles because i was off so i couldnt help with the editing. We have now edited the beginning of the opening sequence i think we will have a good rough cut by the end of this week which is the deadline for the first draft to be done. The Titles which are flickering lightening bolts look quite attractive and they draw in the audiences attention. We have decided to keep the footage the way it is and not try to make it darker because on the computer it dosen't look as if its night time and this was a problem for us as we still want the audience to sense the mysteriousness of the sequence. We may feel that we need to shoot some of this footage again when it is darker if it dosent look right we will decide if it is a suitable lighting when we watch the full rough cut of the opening sequence. We have looked through our footage to check for any continuity errors and we have noticed that in one of the shots the pills container is lying down on the kitchen bench but when the camera cuts to the next shot the pills container is upright on the bench and so we have cut one of the shots out tto eliminate this error. We also editing the end of the sequence to make it look blurry and this is creating the effect that the girl is very dizzy.  We are also going to add in the sound effects as well.

Final Task: progress

Today we are continuing with the editing, we are trying to make sure that it is done in time for the deadline. We have started putting the titles in and add in effects to fit the genre of the film. We have decided add an electricity effect which looks ok. We have also decided to call the movie "Linked". We have used appropriate typography that fits the genre of the film. But we encountered some problems as when the title is inserted the background is completely grey when we wanted it to show the shot. So we are trying to sort this out.

Final Task: Editing progress

Manny and me have been editing the footage for a few days now and are still trying to adjust the colour and the brightness of the clip. We have also listened to how it sounds and we like the sound of the girl crying but have also decided that the part where she is walking up to the house is quite long so we may add some music or sound effects in. This will also be the part of the sequence when the titles will come up. We are going to upload some of our footage so that other people can give advice on how to improve it.